Funders Have Needs, Too
Now let’s look at how to express your knowledge of a funder’s interests and tie it to your program in a proposal. In a full proposal, each of the following examples would be the first or second paragraph in the cover letter or the proposal (or both).
These are examples of both how to tie your request to the funder’s interests and how not to draw the wrong conclusion from a too-quick study of those interests. Although most of the examples are based on good and bad proposals I have seen, no foundation or charity names are real. Read each of them, make your own notes, and then compare with my comments that follow.
Example #1: Knowing of your interest in education, we respectively submit this proposal for a $5,000 grant to provide new computers for the Community Children’s Center.
Example #2: The Rose Foundation’s support of writers through its fellowship program has helped many novelists complete their works. At Fiction Writers’ Center, we, too, provide fellowships to writers, and we request a $15,000 grant from the Rose Foundation to support this program.
WORDS TO THE WISE
Check to see if the funder issues RFPs. Even past ones will give you detailed information on the types of projects the funder prefers.
Example #3: Every year, 6,000 immigrants move to our city, but recent research shows that only a small number become citizens within 10 years. Like the Concord Family Foundation, those of us at New Americans strive to help immigrants become new Americans fully participating in our democratic society.
Example #4: The Downtown Foundation’s dedication to all that is new in the performing arts has been well demonstrated through its support of The Basement, P. S. 111, and the All That’s New festival. Our organization supports composers early in their careers so one day they will be presented by institutions such as these.
Example #5: We are writing to request a $10,000 grant from the Downstate Community Foundation to support education for inmates at the Big Prison upstate. The success of the program for inmates you supported through I&P Services locally is a model program we hope to emulate.
Example #6: Like the Hometown Community Foundation, our organization seeks to improve the lives of all the people of Hometown. We request a $20,000 grant to provide counseling services for at-risk youth, who are among the most disadvantaged of our citizens.
Example #7: We request a $5,000 grant to bring literary programming into community settings through readings by both authors and actors. The spoken word is a powerful force in involving people—particularly young people—in literature. When great writing is combined with a persuasive performance, magic can happen in people’s lives.
Example #8: We would like to applaud the Leotard Company’s support for performances of dance in all its forms in New York City. The field can easily become very fragmented, and your enlightened support offers one common element to tie the dance community together. At Dancers Plus Association, we also embrace a wide variety of dance forms, from tap to flamenco, ballet to modern. We hope you will become a supporter of Dancers Plus Association with a $20,000 grant as we strive to provide services to the same dancers you support in other ways.
WORDS TO THE WISE
GuideStar offers more than 990 forms. It also provides articles such as the excellent “What Grantmakers Want Applicants to Know.” The 15 tips range from “Do your homework” to advice on what to send and not to send with your proposal. You can find it at guidestar.org/news/features/grantadvice.jsp.
The expression of the funder’s interest in Example #1 is so vague, it’s obvious the grant writer didn’t read past the “interests” listing in the Foundation Center directory. (Has the foundation funded technology before? If so, that should have been mentioned.) This is the most common mistake made by beginner grant writers.
In Example #2, the right research was done but the wrong conclusion was reached. If a foundation makes grants directly to writers, it probably has a good idea of the kinds of writers it wants to support and would be unlikely to support a similar program over which it would have no control.
Example #3 gets it right with nearly an exact quote. This foundation’s stated interest is “integrating new Americans into democratic society.”
Example #4 shows by example other places that present contemporary music—all of which appear on the funder’s list of past grant recipients. This one stands a very good chance of funding.
Remember geographic restrictions? Example #5 asks a local community foundation (that only makes grants in its service area) to fund a program many miles away. Even through they have shown an interest in this specific type of program, this proposal won’t get very far.
Example #6 hits the nail on the head by asking for a project that meets the interests and geographic restrictions of the community foundation. “At-risk youth” is even one of the foundation’s favorite buzzwords.
Example #7 doesn’t directly compare the charity’s program to the funder’s, but the points it makes about the spoken word are exactly parallel to (but don’t quote) the funder’s stated interest “to develop an appreciation of spoken English.” If you can make your point without an obvious “mine and yours” statement, do so.
HOW TO SAY IT
Never quote verbatim from a funder’s mission statement or program guide in a grant proposal. It won’t take you seriously unless you can express in your own words what your program will do and how it relates to its interests on more than a superficial level.
Example #8 begins by praising the funder for giving money to other people, and in doing so reveals they know who the funder supports and what form that support takes (in this case, for performances). The grant writer then ties his or her program directly to the funder’s interest.
The good examples came about through careful research and cross-checking. Some of the negative examples contain mistakes that are obvious, some subtle, but all the mistakes would result in an immediate rejection.
In most of the examples, the grant writer has asked for an amount right up front. You don’t have to do this, but it’s good to get it out of the way. Another common mistake is to omit a request for a specific grant amount. You certainly don’t want the funder to wonder about how much you’re seeking.
The Least You Need to Know
• Detailed research will eliminate funders in your sector who have shown no interest in your specific kind of program.
• Avoid being misled by false leads by checking the grants list against foundation interests and trustee connections.
• Use common sense to eliminate funders with competing programs.
• When concentrating on funder subject and program interests, remember geographic restrictions.
• Express your charity’s connection to the funder’s interest without parroting the funder’s own language.
• Whenever possible, show your knowledge of the funder’s interests by referring to another grant it has made or a public position it has taken.
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